Panga Cliff

Panga is where the Silurian dolomite that underlies the whole island shows itself. The cliff runs about two and a half kilometres along the north coast and reaches roughly twenty-one metres - modest in absolute terms, and the highest thing of its kind on Saaremaa by a clear margin.

What you actually see

• The rock face - pale and sharply banded, dropping straight to a narrow stony shore.
• The layering - clean and horizontal, which makes the cliff read like a cut section rather than a natural slope.
• The heath - juniper running right up to the edge, with nothing between it and the water.
• The sacrificial site - a pre-Christian offering place to the sea, which the cliff still feels like on a grey day.

When to go

Late summer evenings are when it looks best, because the light comes along the cliff face rather than onto it. Autumn storms and the sea breaking at the foot of the cliff are the reason locals come. Winter puts ice on the shore and the rock, and empties the place completely.

Honest expectations

There is no railing along most of the top and the edge is undercut in places. People have gone over it. Keep back from the lip, especially in wind or with children.

The visit is short. Pair it with the north-coast drive rather than making a special trip.

Nearby

The Angla windmills are twenty minutes south. Kuressaare and the castle are about forty minutes down the island.